“They’re looking for anything unusual, whether it be seepage, whether it be something that doesn’t appear normal, they’re reporting all of those. So it’s an opportunity for us to lay eyes on that facility twice a week to make sure if there might be a small problem or maybe something that looks a little abnormal, that’s reported quickly,” Jordan said.

Each of Alabama Power’s 14 hydroelectric facilities has an emergency action plan, including regular training exercises with area EMA offices.

“In the unlikely event that there’s a breach, the emergency action plan would put steps in place,” Jordan said. “Who do we call? The communication plan is one part of it. It also allows people to know the area impacted were there to be a failure.”

Residents that live and work near Thurlow Dam see these safety protocols first hand.

“They keep up with everything. I mean they inspect everything, they do their job,” said Genie Willoughby, who passes through the area to get to work each day.

In light of the situation in California, for folks like Jordan, the process is more than just a checklist.

“If there might be an issue, we catch it before it becomes a catastrophic issue,” he said.